(MOROCCO) - A bison herd is now roaming a northwestern Indiana prairie that the Nature Conservancy has spent two decades restoring.

The conservation group released 23 bison from South Dakota into the Kankakee Sands prairie restoration area on Saturday. The Nature Conservancy has planted nearly 6,500 acres of prairie at that Newton County site since 1996.

The bison are confined to a 1,060-acre pasture at Kankakee Sands. Hiking is now prohibited in that area.

Land steward Tony Capizzo says the bison should increase the site's plant and animal diversity by grazing and disturbing the soil.

Visitors to the area about 50 miles northwest of Lafayette can watch the bison in action from an elevated viewing area located just off U.S. 41 near the town of Morocco.